NEC Electronics Introduces Super-Resolution ASSP To Sharpen Full HD Image and Video Quality

NEC Electronics announced its new super-resolution application-specific standard product (ASSP), the PD9280GM, which can reduce blurring that occurs when low-resolution images and video are expanded and displayed in 1920 x 1080-pixel high-definition (HD) monitors.

The ASSP achieves crisp images in HD TV broadcasts by boosting 720 x 480-pixel standard definition (SD) image data. It is also capable of supporting one billion colors (30-bits color depths), which enhances color vividness and accuracy of display. The rapid development of high-performance digital audio/visual (AV) devices, such as mobile phones and digital TVs, has left consumers with the challenge of how to view low-resolution images on their new high-definition electronic products. For example, 1920 x 1080-pixel HD televisions have six times the resolution compared to the 720 x 480-pixel SD image data, which results in blurred images.

Although many image-enhancement technologies have been developed to process low-resolution image data into full HD images, designers, using traditional solutions, need large-capacity external memory devices and high-performance compute engines, and face other challenges to achieve real-time processing for vivid moving images.

Three key features of the PD9280GM super-resolution ASSP are: 

(1) Enhances SD video and image data for crisp display in full HD With increased operating frequency of 150 megahertz (MHz), compared to the previous 108 MHz, this improved operating frequency supports advanced processing of image data and boosts images with higher resolution even on full HD television broadcasts. The super-resolution technology is also available as an intellectual property (IP) core. 

(2) Capable of displaying one billion colors The new ASSP extends its color quality from 24-bit color supporting 8 bits-per-component of red, green, and blue (RGB) color, to 30-bit color. While 24-bit color is only capable of displaying 15 million colors, 30-bit color, aka Deep Color, can display one billion possible colors with smooth color gradation. 

(3) No need for external memory Conventional image-resolution technologies used a multiframe technique to process image data, which required large-capacity external memory making it expensive and difficult to create hardware capable of real-time processing. NEC Electronics' super-resolution technology enables high-resolution processing with just one frame of image data. Reducing the processing load eliminates the need for expensive, external, high-capacity memory.

More information about NEC Electronics' super-resolution technology and products can be found at http://www.am.necel.com/other_assp/super_resolution/.

Pricing and Availability
Samples of NEC Electronics' PD9280GM super-resolution ASSP are available now at US$20 each. Mass production is scheduled to begin in July 2009, starting from 100,000 units per month, expecting to reach approximately 1,000,000 units by 2010. (Pricing and availability are subject to change without notice.)